Minimum Wages and the Wage Structure in Mexico
- 1 June 2008
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Review of Social Economy
- Vol. 66 (2), 181-208
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00346760701691489
Abstract
Instead of merely setting a lower bound on the wages of formal sector workers, minimum wages serve as a norm for wage setting more generally throughout the Mexican economy. Our results suggest that wages are commonly set at multiples of the minimum wage, and that changes in minimum wages influence wage changes across the occupational distribution. Moreover, our findings suggest that these normative features of minimum wages have their greatest impact on the mid-to-lower tail of the wage distribution, including the informal sector of the economy. Thus, the results lend support to the view that declining real minimum wages and stabilization programs that strengthened the link between wage levels, wage changes, and minimum wages, might account for a portion of the growing wage inequality in Mexico over the period of the late 1980s and early 1990s.Keywords
This publication has 18 references indexed in Scilit:
- Hunger Discipline and Social ParasitesUrban Affairs Review, 2004
- Minimum Wage Effects throughout the Wage DistributionThe Journal of Human Resources, 2004
- Unions and Wage Inequality in MexicoILR Review, 2003
- The Economics and Ethics of Minimum Wage LegislationReview of Social Economy, 1999
- Inflation Stabilization and the Vanishing Size-Wage EffectILR Review, 1999
- The Impact of Minimum Wages in Mexico and ColombiaJournal of Labor Economics, 1997
- The Paradox of Narrowing Wage Differentials and Widening Wage Inequality in MexicoDevelopment and Change, 1997
- Institutional Changes and Rising Wage Inequality: Is There a Linkage?Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1997
- Labor Market Institutions and the Distribution of Wages, 1973-1992: A Semiparametric ApproachEconometrica, 1996
- The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Other WagesThe Journal of Human Resources, 1983